Tag Archives: Mumbai

Dubai Business Events (DBE) has showcased the city’s capabilities and services to business event planners through their three-city roadshow held recently in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, attracting an attendance of approximately 490 business events and incentive buyers as well as wedding planners. DBE was joined on the roadshow by a number of stakeholders from Dubai, including Dubai Parks and Resorts, Jumeirah Hotels and Emaar Hospitality. The roadshow offered a platform for the DBE team to meet and engage with key decision makers, educate them about the services available to them, and detail how the convention bureau can support in planning their events in Dubai. Attendees were also able to discover Dubai and the world-class factors that combine to make the city a premier destination to host business events. Over the coming months, DBE and stakeholders from the city will conduct further in-market activities in UK, Sweden, Finland and Russia while also continuing to welcome business event planners for study missions from around the world to Dubai.

Travel Money, the flagship Foreign Exchange brand of FCM Travel Solutions, Indian subsidiary of Flight Centre Travel Group Australia, strengthened its presence in South India with an inauguration of its first owned retail store at one of the key locations at Vijaywada, Andhra Pradesh. The outlet was inaugurated by Gagan Malhotra, Vice President, Foreign Exchange, FCM Travel Solutions India Pvt Ltd. This expansion augments total number of outlets to the 34 stores across India, out of which 14 are in South India. Observing the higher demands and trends in the travel space and from the passionate travellers, Travel Money stores have been designed to help the customers with unbeatable pricing and quality related to Foreign Exchange. Spread over 1,000 sq. ft. at M. G Road, the store offers a range of foreign exchange services such as forex, travel cards and outward remittances for education or close relative maintenance. Speaking on the launch, Gagan Malhotra, Vice President, Foreign Exchange, FCM Travel Solutions India, said, “We are extremely pleased to announce our first owned exclusive retail store in Vijaywada and thereby in Andhra Pradesh. According to the BCG report titled ‘Demystifying The Indian Online Traveller 2017’, the Indian travel market is projected to grow at 11 to 11.5 per cent to the tune of $ 48 billion by 2020. Indian travel given the significant outbound tourism growth in South India market, we aim to deliver quality and convenience in all aspects of foreign exchange including remittance for students, Leisure & Business travel, Prepaid Travel Cards, and much more to our travellers. Our new branch at Pothuri Towers, M.G. Road is a prime location, which will allow our consumers an easy access. With …

Israel has reduced its visa fee to INR 1,100 from its previous INR 1,700 charge for Indian citizens. The move is aimed to encourage more Indian travellers to visit the country. VFS Global currently offers visa processing services for Israeli visas in the cities of Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. Centres will soon open in Hyderabad and Kolkata to service the residents in these cities, who will not be required to send their documents to the Consulates in Mumbai and Bengaluru or the Embassy in New Delhi. The revised application fee is on the B2 visa category, where a visit to Israel is for purposes including business, meeting or conference or tourism. Commenting on the initiatives, Hassan Madah, Director, Israel Ministry of Tourism – India & Philippines, said, “We are happy to announce the reduction in visa fees for Indian travellers with immediate effect. I am confident that this move will encourage more people to choose Israel as a holiday destination and boost inbound numbers from India. With the ease in visa norms and Fast Track visa processing incorporated earlier this year, we have seen an increase in travel and I am confident that the revised visa fees will help grow these numbers. Besides this, we are working towards e-visa processing as well as easing the group visa process.” He also added, “We have seen tremendous growth in the number of tourists from India in the last three years and 2017 has been the best year so far with close to 60,000 visitors. Our inbound figures have already recorded an increase of 27 per cent (approximately 19,000 travellers) in Indian tourist arrivals from January to April as compared to the same …

The fourth Global Exhibition on Services (GES) is set to take place from May 15-18, 2018, at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai. A curtain raiser for the event was held in New Delhi at the Shangri-La hotel. Organised by Ministry of External Affairs and Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, GES is meant to promote the services sector including tourism as well as education. This year, the focus is on Northeast India and ASEAN region as it is themed on ‘The Northeast India-ASEAN Opportunity’. Exhibition and event services, and tourism and hospitality are among the 22 sectors that the government aims to focus on through GES.

Jharkhand Tourism has announced the inaugural edition of ‘Jharkhand Travel Mart to be held in Ranchi from March 23-25, 2018. Dr. Manish Ranjan, IAS, Secretary – Tourism, Govt. of Jharkhand, said, “Jharkhand will contribute immensely to the Indian Tourism portfolio with its diverse range of travel and tourism destinations. We are pleased to announce the inaugural edition of the ‘Jharkhand Travel Mart’ in Ranchi from the 23 – 25 March 2018. The event is an extension of our aggressive marketing approach to introduce more tourism destinations and attractions and reinforce the Jharkhand Tourism Brand among the media, buyers and stake-holders.” The event will seek support from all major national travel – trade and hospitality association in India such as Association of Domestic Tour Operators Association of India (ADTOI), Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI), Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) and Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality (FAITH), Hotel Association of Jharkhand, Travel Agents Association of Jharkhand, Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industries. Jharkhand Tourism has also scheduled B2B Roadshows in key markets such as Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Asansol, etc to promote the state and the inaugural edition of Jharkhand Travel Mart.

The Embassy of the Czech Republic has inaugurated the 16th VFS Global Czech Republic Visa Application Centre in India, in Goa. HE Milan Hovorka, Ambassador of the Czech Republic in India, inaugurated the centre located in Panjim on January 17, 2018. He said, “The launch of the Czech Republic Visa Application Centre in Goa reflects the country’s genuine commitment to provide for the growing demands of Visas to the country among Indian tourists, business and culture. As a result of this policy, the Czech Republic has emerged as one of the preferred European destinations for Indian tourists.” The opening of 16 visa application centres in India over a two-year period signifies VFS Global’ s strengthening association with the Embassy of the Czech Republic. Vinay Malhotra, Chief Operating Officer – Middle East and South Asia, VFS Global, said, “Outbound traffic from India is constantly growing, and the Czech Republic in particular is rapidly gaining popularity as a preferred tourist destination among Indian travel enthusiasts. With India being a large source market for travel to Europe, the new centre will help enhance the visa services network for the Czech Republic visa applicants in the region.” Besides Goa, other cities where applicants can submit visa applications for the Czech Republic are Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jalandhar, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Puducherry, Pune and Thiruvananthapuram. VFS Global has partnered with the Government of the Czech Republic since 2008, when it first set up visa application operations in Russia. Since then, it has established a robust network of 93 centres across 17 countries for this client government.

IndiGo has announced that Colombo will become its eighth international destination effective January 20, 2018 with daily direct flights from Chennai and Bengaluru. With these new flights, the airline will also offer connections to and from Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and other major Indian cities. Sanjay Kumar, Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo, said, “It gives us immense pleasure to add Colombo to our growing network, which will not only help us cater to the growing tourist potential of the city, but also provide affordable travel options to the Indian workforce who can now look forward to visiting the city more frequently. We are also delighted to partner with Hemas as our GSA partner in Sri Lanka for our sales and distribution services.” Malinga Arsakularatne, Managing Director, Hemas Leisure Travel Aviation Group, added, “We welcome IndiGo to Sri Lanka and it is indeed our great pleasure to embark on this exciting partnership. We are confident that the team at Hemas Aviation would deliver the growth ambitions of the airline.”

IndiGo has expanded its regional network by adding Tirupati on its network. Honourable Minister of Civil Aviation, Ashok Gajapathi Raju along with Aditya Ghosh, President and Whole Time Director, IndiGo, flagged-off the second flight from Tirupati to Hyderabad at Tirupati International Airport on January 7, 2018. Tirupati will be connected by three daily non-stop flights to Hyderabad and double daily non-stop flights to Bengaluru. Apart from this, Tirupati will also be connected to many new cities on IndiGo’s existing network of Airbus 320s and ATRs. IndiGo will connect Tirupati to Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Dubai, Singapore among other cities via Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Mangaluru.

Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts organised a two city roadshow in Mumbai and Delhi to strengthen the brand’s ties with the Indian travel trade fraternity. The roadshow was part of Jumeirah’s newly enhanced focus on India as a source market for its hotels in the UAE, Europe and the Maldives. Speaking at the Mumbai roadshow, Linda Lewis, the Vice President for Global Sales Middle East and Asia Pacific, Jumeirah Group, said, “The India market has witnessed a considerable rise in outbound luxury travel in recent years. Given that this demographic seek superior travel and stay experiences; our current portfolio includes hotels and resorts within a number of favoured locations; and we are one of the world’s most awarded luxury hotel brands, Jumeirah is well placed to fulfil the requirements of the Indian luxury traveller, including families, couples, the MICE industry and those seeking destination weddings and honeymoons.” Jumeirah recently signed a direct connectivity partnership with Make My Trip India, providing a easy booking channel for Indian consumers who wish to book Jumeirah hotels around the world. Lewis added, “India is a key source market into the UAE and into a number of our other destinations including the UK and Maldives. We are focusing on expanding and consolidating our ties with the FITs and the luxury travel segment to reach out to a larger audience and gain a higher market share. MMT’s reach and presence in India goes above and beyond Tier-1 states. With this in mind, our visibility on this platform will help to increase brand awareness and gain new consumers.” Jumeirah Group has 11 hotels in the UAE and a presence across Europe, Middle East and Asia. While the Burj Al …

The 27th edition of the annual B2B Broadcast India Show (BIS) will be held from October 12-14, 2017, at Bombay Convention and Exhibition Centre, Goregaon, Mumbai. From content creation to its management and delivery, BIS 2017 presents an entire gamut of products and solutions catering to the entire scale of the broadcast and film industry. Organised by NürnbergMesse India, the expo is showcasing over 600 brands displaying cutting edge technology and solutions. Along with the broad-spectrum event, BIS 2017 will simultaneously facilitate a two-day conference that dives right into the nitty-gritty of content. It will invite CEOs, directors, and proprietors of companies along with engineers, technicians, and technologists to conduct an array of technical presentations, product promotions, and in-depth discussions. Kavita Meer, Project Consultant, Broadcast India Show 2017, is confident that the event this year will be the biggest ever done till date. “Broadcast India Show has always attracted the key influencers and decision makers of the industry. Last year, over 20,000 global professionals made their attendance at the event. The show has become a calendar event for the industry and it is because of its ability to attract professionals from the entire spectrum of the broadcast industry that it enjoys such a strong connection with the infotainment industry,” she elaborates.